Somont, a 100% subsidiary of 3S Industries AG, has received from the Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) an order for delivery of its “RAPID” automatic string soldering systems. The machines with a total value of 14.5 million Euros will be delivered to Singapore where REC is setting up a new, world class, integrated photovoltaic production facility.
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This sale is a further major milestone in the longstanding relationship between Somont and the Norwegian solar group REC. REC is already successfully using the RAPID machine type and machines of the previous generation for the high-quality industrial production of solar cell strings and their assembly in 3-shift operation. The RAPID provides highest production capacity with extremely low cell breakage.
REC is a world leading producer of polysilicon and wafers and a pioneer in the global renewable energy industry. Construction of the new solar factory in Tuas, Singapore is taking place in 2 phases. In the first phase, REC is investing about 1.5 billion Euros in the new factory and creating 1300 jobs on location. Production will begin in the first quarter of 2010, and by 2012, capacities will be built up to reach 740 MW of wafers, 550 MW of solar cells and 590 MW of solar modules. The high-quality automatic string soldering systems are an integral part of the new, fully automatic lines for solar module production and therefore an important element of the development of capacity in phase 1 of the Tuas project.
